The present invention relates to a device and process for crystallizing compounds using hydrodynamic cavitation. The types of compounds that may be crystallized include pharmaceutical compounds, chemical compounds, food additive compounds, as well as any other compounds used in industry.
Crystallization from solution is a separation and purification method used in the chemical, food and pharmaceutically industries, particularly for the production of active compounds or their intermediates. Some of the goals of the crystallization process include producing a product meeting the desired purity level and also a product having the desired crystal size and size distribution. Crystallization from solution is usually conducted as a batch process or as a continuous process. Batch crystallization equipment and operation is fairly simple but requires a significant investment of both time and money between batches. Additionally, batch crystallization suffers from quality control issues due to the lack of a steady state during the batch crystallization process. Continuous crystallization can involve a single. crystallizer or a series of crystallizers operating at a steady state. However, continuous crystallization is normally used for large volume commodity type materials as continuous crystallization does not typically permit adequate quality control to yield crystals suitable for use in industries demanding a high level of crystal size and size distribution control.
High bioavailability and short dissolution time are desirable or often necessary attributes of a pharmaceutical end product. However, the direct crystallization of small sized, high surface area particles is usually accomplished in a high supersaturation environment which often results in material of low purity, high friability, and decreased stability due to poor crystal structure formation. Because the bonding forces in organic crystal lattices generate a much higher frequency of amorphism than those found in highly ionic inorganic solids, “oiling out” of supersaturated material is not uncommon, and such oils often solidify without structure.
Slow crystallization is a common technique used to increase product purity and produce a more stable crystal structure, but it is a process that decreases crystallizer productivity and produces large, low surface area particles that require subsequent high intensity milling. Currently, pharmaceutical compounds almost always require a post-crystallization milling step to increase particle surface area and thereby improve their bioavailability. However, high energy milling has drawbacks. Milling may result in yield loss, noise and dusting, as well as unwanted personnel exposure to highly potent pharmaceutical compounds. Also, stresses generated on crystal surfaces during milling can adversely affect labile compounds. Overall, the three most desirable end-product goals of high surface area, high chemical purity, and high stability cannot be optimized simultaneously using current crystallization technology without high energy milling.
One standard crystallization procedure involves contacting a supersaturated solution of the compound to be crystallized with an appropriate “anti-solvent” in a stirred vessel. Within the stirred vessel, the anti-solvent initiates primary nucleation which leads to crystal formation, sometimes with the help of seeding, and crystal digestion during an aging step. Mixing within the vessel can be achieved with a variety of agitators (e.g., Rushton or Pitched blade turbines, Intermig, etc.), and the process is done in a batchwise fashion.
When using current reverse addition technology for direct small particle crystallization, a concentration gradient can not be avoided during initial crystal formation because the introduction of feed solution to anti-solvent in the stirred vessel does not afford a thorough mixing of the two fluids prior to crystal formation. The existence of concentration gradients, and therefore a heterogeneous fluid environment at the point of initial crystal formation, impedes optimum crystal structure formation and increases impurity entrainment. If a slow crystallization technique is employed, more thorough mixing of the fluids can be attained prior to crystal formation which will improve crystal structure and purity, but the crystals produced will be large and milling will be necessary to meet bioavailability requirements.
Another standard crystallization procedure employs temperature variation of a solution of the material to be crystallized in order to bring the solution to its supersaturation point, but this is a slow process that produces large crystals. Also, despite the elimination of a solvent gradient with this procedure, the resulting crystal characteristics of size, purity and stability are difficult to control and are inconsistent from batch to batch.
Another standard crystallization procedure involves contacting a supersaturated solution of the compound to be crystallized with an appropriate acid or base in a stirred vessel. This in turn causes a pH change in the supersaturated solution, thereby initiating primary nucleation and, eventually, crystal formation. Alternatively, crystallization can also be accomplished by reactive crystallization. In reactive crystallization, a reactive agent is added to a supersaturated solution, resulting in primary nucleation and, eventually, crystal formation. Similar to other standard crystallization processes, reactive crystallization is mixing dependent.
Another crystallization procedure utilizes impinging jets to achieve high intensity micromixing in the crystallization process. High intensity micromixing is a well known technique where mixing-dependent reactions are involved. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,314,456 there is described a method using two impinging jets to achieve uniform particles. The general process involves two impinging liquid jets positioned within a well stirred flask to achieve high intensity micromixing. At the point where the two jets strike one another a very high level of supersaturation exists. As a result of this high supersaturation, crystallization occurs extremely rapidly within the small mixing volume at the impingement point of the two liquids. Since new crystals are constantly nucleating at the impingement point, a very large number of crystals are produced. As a result of the large number of crystals formed, the average size remains small, although not all the crystals formed are small in size.